“Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” [1]
“Mo’ Better Blues” is the title of a movie directed by Spike Lee and released in 1990. Though I have never watched this particular movie, and I truly know little of the plot other than what I might have read in various reviews, I nevertheless find the title striking, suggesting people’s never-ending search for “something more.” As such, the title is representative of various heresies resident or tolerated among the churches today.
The Faith has been under assault from earliest days, and the doctrines of the Faith have been defined for us today through repeated challenges arising from error which attempted to insinuate itself into the fabric of the Faith. John demonstrated the focus of his love to be Christ, a focus which is not apparent among many evangelicals of this day. One such place where the apostle of love revealed his devotion to present a pure bride to Christ at His return is found in his second general epistle. That missive has at its heart a deep concern for the spiritual welfare of the saints, and the major threat to their continued well being at that time were “deceivers” capable of duping believers.
John wrote this particular letter to caution believers against a specific, particular error which was at that time invading the Zion of God. His words, as is often true of Scripture, serve to warn against even broader dangers throughout the intervening years between that day in which he wrote and the present day. The particular pressing danger that threatened John's first readers was the presence of a multiplication of “deceivers” identified as individuals refusing to “acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.”
THE DANGER —John’s warning presents what constitutes a most intriguing description. Here is what I mean by that statement. There are several points of considerable interest I am compelled to point out before we venture into the broader, more general aspects of this warning. The Greek word which is translated “deceiver,” is Planos. This particular term in the Greek tongue describes an individual who leads others into wrong action and not only to adopt a wrong opinion. The aged saint used the verbal form of this same word in his first letter, writing “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you” [1 JOHN 2:26]. Later, in that same missive, John would write, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous” [1 JOHN 3:7]. With these words, the Apostle of Love was demonstrating that his concern was not merely transient, but that he considered the saints at risk.
Additional evidence of John’s concern for believers, even the saints who were then potential and in the distance for John, is found in an untranslated word found in the Greek text. The Greek word hoti is usually translated “because.” The inclusion of this word serves as a graphic reminder that what follows is intimately related to that which has preceded. In the text before us today, John has just been admonishing his readers to “love one another,” to “walk in love.” The evidence of love for one another is witnessed in our love for the Master—love that is demonstrated through obedience to the Master. In that first brief missive, you will recall that John had spoken of “false prophets.” He wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” [1 JOHN 4:1].
Take careful note that in that same letter, John also spoke of “antichrists” whom he identifies with these “deceivers.” In that letter, remember that the Apostle of Love wrote, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” [1 JOHN 2:18-19].
Looking back to this earlier letter, it becomes apparent that John's concern is not merely that some might advocate an aberrant, though harmless, position; rather, he is witness to those who are seducing believers, leading them into the realm of errant behaviour. Denying the Faith at an intellectual level leads inevitably to denial of the Faith at a practical level. This is an incredibly important point that you must not miss: Denying the Faith at an intellectual level leads inevitably to denial of the Faith at a practical level.
There is an astonishing corollary between idolatry—the enshrinement of rebellious attitudes in the place of worship of and rule by God, and immorality throughout the Word of God. Consider just a few examples. As an example, here is EXODUS 32:1-6 as recorded in the contemporary version known as GOD’S WORD. “When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. They said to him, ‘We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. Make gods who will lead us.’
“Aaron said to them, ‘Have your wives, sons, and daughters take off the gold earrings they are wearing, and bring them to me.’
“So all the people took off their gold earrings and handed them to Aaron. After he had worked on the gold with a tool, he made it into a statue of a calf.
“Then they said, ‘Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’
“When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and announced, ‘Tomorrow there will be a festival in the LORD’s honor.’
“Early the next day the people sacrificed burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. Afterward, they sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy.”
Here is another example from the history of Israel. The passage in question reads, “While Israel remained encamped in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with Moabite women, who also invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. So the people ate what they had sacrificed and then worshipped their gods.
“The people joined the Baal-peor cult. As a result, the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel” [NUMBERS 25:1-3 ISV].
Perhaps someone dissents from what is presented, arguing that these are examples drawn from the Old Covenant. In answer to such an objection, take note of Paul’s warning in the Ephesian Encyclical, noting in particular the close relationship between covetousness, which Paul identifies as idolatry, and sexual immorality or impurity. “Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them” [EPHESIANS 5:3-7].
You will find a similar passage in which the Apostle equates idolatry and sexual immorality recorded in COLOSSIANS 3:5-8. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.”
Thus, when John inveighs against the deceivers in our text, these people were not merely teaching error, they were actively persuading others to embrace their error, adopting it in a practical way into their lives. The grave danger of these deceivers was not merely that they would mislead outsiders who were exploring the Faith, but they were capable of persuading followers of Christ to adopt godless practises.
Notice that in each instance cited (1 JOHN 2:18-19 and 4:1, and 2 JOHN 7) those individuals who generate such grave apostolic concern find their origin within the Body of saints. This source is exactly what renders these deceivers to be such a danger to the faithful. In our text we read that “Many deceivers … have gone out” [2 JOHN 7]. You will recall that the identical terminology is employed in 1 JOHN 4:1 as we saw earlier. When we read 1 JOHN 2:19, you will have noted that the identification is even more precise. There, the aged apostle writes, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us” [1 JOHN 2:19 NET BIBLE]. It is an axiom of the Faith that error which is most detrimental to the spiritual health of the saints is that which arises from within the Body of believers. We who are believers are not threatened by the teaching of other religions such as that held to by Buddhists, or by the teachings of Muslims, or the tenets of Confucianism, or the teachings associated with Hinduism. However attractive the doctrines of these various groups may appear on the surface, they are inherently different and easily recognised as something other than Christian.
However, that teaching which first finds its roots in the Christian Faith and which persists in masquerading as Christian, can prove subtly seductive precisely because it can be so easily confused with truth. Such individuals as those of whom John wrote were also confronted by the bombastic brother of our Lord, Jude. Jude identified these deceivers as, “Certain people [who] have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” [JUDE 4]. The term Jude used is a word that would be employed for the insertion of a spy into military or political ranks, it spoke of a surreptitious insinuation into the fabric of life which may lie dormant and undetected for long periods. Herein lies the grave danger to those so infiltrated.
As though seeking to ensure that no one fails to see the danger presented by these deceivers, the Apostle of Love further identifies their particular heresy as refusal to “acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” [2 JOHN 7 NASB95]. It is unclear whether John is stating that these deceivers are guilty of an eschatological error by refusing to confess the veracity of the doctrine of His second coming, an error that was taught by heretics at least a generation prior to John's letter [see 2 TIMOTHY 2:17-18], or whether he has in mind a denial of Christ's deity as was then being taught by the Gnostics. Either instance is open heresy because either is a denial of essential Christian truth. Let the gravity of what I just said sink in. To deny the return of Christ the Lord, to live as though He will not come again, is heresy. To deny that Jesus is very God in human flesh is heresy. Either error will contaminate the Faith and condemn those who attempt to hold to such errant teaching.
In time, such heretical teaching, especially if such teaching is allowed to exist without being challenged and stopped, will be revealed in lifestyles described by Jude. “[They are] ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” [JUDE 4b].
The foregoing presents in a concise fashion the particular problem that John confronted. The broader truths presented by the holy apostle must be now considered in the remainder of the message. The first truth to underscore in your minds is that ERROR ALWAYS BLUNDERS BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF REVELATION. A vital truth that we must never forget is that we could know nothing of God except as He reveals Himself to us. Likewise, we could know nothing of Jesus, the Son of God, except through revelation. When our first parents fell from their positions of intimacy and innocence, they plunged the race into a mental darkness which cannot be enlightened except through divine intervention. Of all people who are outside of Christ, we are confident of the accuracy of the apostle's observation that, “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart" [EPHESIANS 4:18]. All people, even those with whom we share sweet family ties, fall under this dark description if they are without God and without Christ in the world. Lost people are darkened in their understanding and they are alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. Those who are lost suffer from hardened hearts that keep them from knowing the life of God.
Knowledge concerning those matters that are directly related to the person of God is, in the language of the Psalmist,
“too wonderful for me,
it is high; I cannot attain it.”
[PSALM 139:6].
Though knowledge of God is beyond our ability to grasp, knowledge of the Lord God is a demonstration of the grace and mercy of God Himself gives; it is demonstration of His love that He has provided us a revelation of all which is necessary to our eternal salvation. Now, in Christ, we are adopted into the Family of God, called by His Name, provided immediate access into His presence, and permitted the high privilege of presenting our petitions before Him, knowing that we shall be heard. All this is by His revelation.
I make this observation that both historically and contemporarily, heresy is an inevitable expression of the search for something more than that which God has provided. Of the Gnostics, who appeared early in the history of the Church, it becomes obvious that they were engaged in a search for secret knowledge that they claimed was unavailable and inaccessible to the uninitiated. What is said of them could well be said of modern Gnostics, errant individuals such as Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Joyce Meyer, and other such false prophets who profess to have secret knowledge. Later heretics, such as Marcion and Montanus, claimed that they were in possession of secret power, much like John Wimber or Ken Blue in this day imagine themselves to be keepers of power which was otherwise kept from the rest of the saints.
Other heresies found the simplicity of the Faith restrictive and felt themselves impelled to search out “something more,” something unavailable to the rest of the Church. Therefore, the ecclesiastical world is infected with such soul-damning cults as Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, practitioners of Christian Science, and a growing number of charismatics who each claim to possess revelations, oral and written, in addition to those God has provided the remainder of the churches. Progressives, those who call themselves moderate in theology or modern in their worldview, are but a continuation of a line seen in the Unitarian/Universalist tradition who may trace their religious roots at least to Arianism and the teachings of Sebellius.
In each instance cited, whether ancient or recent, those espousing heresy claim they possess “something more.” This is precisely what John's statement exposes in the ninth verse of our text: “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” [2 JOHN 9]. Dear people, there is nothing modern about modernism; it is as ancient as the query of the serpent, “Did God actually say” [GENESIS 3:1]. There is nothing moderate about the position of moderates; the theological poison they peddle is as old as Balaam's inclusiveness. There is nothing secret about the search of Gnostics, both ancient and modern. The search they claim to be conducting is as ancient as that which inspired the erection of the tower of Babel. As surely as sparks fly upward from the fire, error always seeks to go beyond that which God has revealed.
Not content to remain within the boundaries of certainty provided by the revelation God has given, heretics feel restrained, cheated and restless, thus demonstrating the rebellion seething within their hearts. They, as we, need to remember the pointed words of the Master as recorded by John. “The Father … has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” [JOHN 5:22-23]. Only as one honours the Son can one be said to honour the Father.
Elsewhere, the Son of God has taught those who follow Him, “‘Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me’” [JOHN 14:21-24]. Love of God is love for the Son; and love for the Son is demonstrated through obedience to His Word. Disobedience reveals a wicked heart.
Jesus’ words presage John’s words that are inspired by the Holy Spirit, “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also,” and “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” [1 JOHN 2:23; 5:1]. Here is a truth we must hear, whether this truth is either neglected or ignored by the churches of this era. People are not afforded the luxury of choosing which teachings of the Word are to be believed and which are to be rejected as odious or unpalatable. If we wish to be received as followers of the Son of God and as those adopted into the Family of God, we are called to believe the whole of revealed truth. Rejection of any portion of the Word of God is hazardous to our spiritual well being. This is especially true when speaking of what we identify as basic or fundamental, truth.
It is important that you see something of great importance at this point. John, in giving the warning he has provided, was not condemning progress as such, nor was he restricting our searches for truth. As the old saying informs us, “The Lord has yet more light to shine forth on His Word.” God gave the Holy Spirit to instruct those who will listen to Him and to lead those who follow the Christ into new understanding and application of the truth. This is just as we have been promised by the Master. Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” [JOHN 16:12-15]. This teaching is iterated in our text, especially when combined with the commentary that is provided in 1 JOHN 2:20-21, 26-27.
Error moves beyond the boundaries of revelation. Heresy never pares revealed truth; always, something more is added. There is a second truth I would have you see, ERROR REJECTS THE RESTRAINT OF REVELATION. There is nothing complex about the Good News of Christ, the message is simple so that none need be excluded from grace. A mere child may grasp the truth of the Gospel, as can even those whose minds have been wounded. Intuitively, mankind responds to genuine love, and nowhere is love more clearly seen then in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recall what John has written in his first missive. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” [1 JOHN 4:10], and again as he wrote those words of great revelation, “God is love” [1 JOHN 4:16b]. Because God is love, and because the Gospel is a message of divine love revealed to all mankind, reasonable people should have no difficulty responding to that message.
In my library is a rather extensive section of books studying cults and sects, heresies and schisms that have plagued the Faith from the earliest days of the Faith, errors that even now drain energy from believers. Many of those books are original source materials from apologists for the various errant Christian impostors. Such literature is necessitated by the need to avoid distorting their already twisted logic. One general observation I have made concerning that which is written in defense of the varied and strange doctrines to which many saints are susceptible is that when one begins to deviate from the Faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints, it is necessary to create increasingly complex theories, expounding and explaining in defense of the deviant position. Heresy eschews the simplicity of the Faith in favor of ever greater complexity.
What are the facts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? There are this: that humans are fallen creatures, we are incapable of pleasing God in our own power. Consequently, we are undeserving of grace or goodness. And yet, God has provided a perfect sacrifice for man in the Person of Jesus the Son of God. The Good News is that Jesus died, providing His own life as a perfect sacrifice in order to provide atonement for fallen man. Had Christ died and been buried, and that was the end of the story, there wouldn’t be much good news. However, the Son of God conquered death, rising from the tomb. Jesus the Son of God is alive! He is alive!
Our Saviour, crucified and risen from the dead, now invites all people to place their faith in Him as the crucified and risen Son of God. Believing Him, each person can immediately and forever enter into a felicitous and blessed state of salvation. As saved people, we who believe receive absolute forgiveness of all sin and the benefits of adoption into the family of God.
Can anything be simpler than that? Can that message be improved? No, it cannot be improved. It is simple, being readily understood by anyone of that age at which good and evil are discerned. The simplicity of the Good News frees us from the speculative sophistries of pseudo philosophers. This divine message is satisfactory in the extreme, providing as it does propitiation for sin, freedom from divine judgment, and hope where despair previously prevailed. It is sufficient to secure salvation for sinners, having received already the seal of heavenly approval as demonstrated by the resurrection from the dead. Despite the simplicity of this message of divine love, multitudes appear willing to trade this simple, satisfactory, sufficient message of love for a fantasy which is ever more complex, ever less satisfying, offering no hope, and proving utterly insufficient.
How can a message which requires an addition to the revealed and written Word of God, whether itself written or oral, be more clear than that which we have received? Whether you point to the delusional Joseph Smith who duped many with a peep stone that he hid in a hat [2], or whether you point to an epileptic woman such as Ellen G. White [3], of whether you heed the fantasies of some preacher such as David Wilkerson or another charismatic seer, none have added to our understanding of the grace of God and all have obscured the simplicity of the revealed Word of God. How can a message which reduces the infinite, sovereign God to a mere demigod constrained to do our bidding provide greater satisfaction? Whether we speak of Mary Baker Eddy, or Casey Treat, or Robert Tilton, or a Paul Yonggi Cho, that message which makes the Living God a captive of human imagination and lust can never satisfy the restless heart of any person. How can a message which insists upon human effort to secure the mercy of God ever prove sufficient? Not Judge Rutherford nor Shirley MacLaine nor John Wimber are able to provide a message which is sufficient to secure salvation for fallen man.
Error can never be simple any more than a lie can be maintained without increasingly complex lies to explain the first. Error can never be satisfactory any more than evil can be supported without creating a thirst for ever greater evil. Error can never be sufficient any more than wrong suffices to secure our serenity. Shortly, heresy must break the bounds of revelational restraint.
Never forget the grave warning found in verse nine of our text. There, the aged Apostle warns “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ” [2 JOHN 9]. Having begun by appearing to adopt the trappings of orthodoxy, these errant pretenders have now rejected restraint, and like hogs breeching a fence they have moved beyond the boundaries which the Spirit of Christ Himself has previously set.
Yet another observation concerning the matter of heresy is that ERROR INSINUATES AND INSULATES ITSELF IN INSIDIOUS INFILTRATION. Here is a valuable truth you do well to remember: heresy demands orthodoxy, though orthodoxy is not dependent upon heresy. Error is like a parasite, demanding a living host which it will eventually kill through greed and lack of restraint. Without a core of truth, lies cannot long exist. The use of the present tense in the verb translated “comes” in verse ten may signal a repeated attempt to enter into the fellowship of the faithful. Perpetrators of perversity seldom wear their true colours upon the first contact when they are seeking a hospitable reception from the saints.
Mormon missionaries are neatly dressed with dark slacks, white shirts and dark ties. These clean cut young men give every evidence of orthodoxy upon first meeting. They use a King James Bible, and they are prepared to give you a glowing testimony of their certainty of salvation, eagerly telling how they experienced a burning in their breast. Jehovah's Witnesses are ready to debate the Word of God with you, and if you permit them to do so they will beat you at the game of matching Bible verses through controlling the conversation, directing the conversation into fruitless avenues of meaningless exploration. Can we question the experiences of people who have had out of the body experiences, people who have danced with Jesus on a sea of glass or who have received revelations concerning how God has proscribed some activity or promoted another?
Error gives every evidence of orthodoxy! Yet Paul did not hesitate to openly condemn error in his missive to the saints in Corinth. To that congregation the Apostle has written, “I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” [2 CORINTHIANS 11:2-3].
Further, and in a manner subject to censure in this enlightened era, he exposed the heretics insinuating themselves into the life of the Body when he wrote “Such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” [2 CORINTHIANS 11:13-15].
You see, each one who is a faithful follower of Christ the Lord is obligated to test all that is taught as biblical truth. It is of scant moment whether the teaching is delivered into your home via television or by radio, whether you find the teaching given by preachers as they deliver sermons on the internet, whether you find the teaching as you peruse printed media, as a Christian you are responsible for what you permit yourself to listen to. You are especially responsible for that which is presented from pulpits in your assembly. You must certainly guard your own heart, but you are especially charged to be zealous in guarding the congregation wherein the Saviour has placed you. On no single group is this need to be watchful of what is taught more incumbent than it is upon those men who are set as elders within the community of faith.
Recall Paul's admonition to the elders of the Ephesian assembly. What he would say to these men when they met on the beach at Miletus would be his final opportunity to instruct them. The Apostle was on his way to Jerusalem where he would be placed in chains and sent to Rome. Therefore, his words take on increased significance. The man of God warned the Ephesian elders, and thus all elders throughout the ages, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears” [ACTS 20:28 31].
Just a few notes that should prove of interest to you. First, note that the term “fierce wolves” could as readily be translated “honourable wolves.” The description that follows as Paul appears to hint as to their source may indicate that the Apostle was making a play on words. I hold the opinion that Paul was indicating both their inner nature and their outward appearance.
Second, note their motive, which is similar to that Peter provides. They seek “to draw away the disciples after them.” Building a following by drawing unwary disciples after themselves would be a means of enhancing their own self importance. Peter focused on greed as a motive for the false teachers, but Paul sees them as inflating their own ego.
The third point I ask you to note is Paul's reference to his vigilance against the infiltration of error during the time he ministered among the Christians in Ephesus. The pastor who exposes error and stands against heresy demonstrates his love of the flock and his love for the Chief Shepherd who appointed him to that office. It is not a mark of love for Christ to be tolerant of evil. There is not a single example of one who followed the Risen Saviour who tolerated even a little bit of error that is provided or hinted in the whole of the Word of God.
There is a final aspect of John's concern which needs to be stated. John teaches that ERROR SUBJECTS SAINTS TO SEVERE SANCTIONS. The language the Apostle uses is chilling. “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for.” Then, John warns, “Whoever greets [the heretic] takes part in his wicked works [2 JOHN 8a, 11]. It is only because of the generally poor state of religious conviction found among professed believers that the people of God forget that God does discipline His own people. I am confident that because John is addressing believers in this letter, the reference to people losing what you have worked for has reference to eternal rewards. Since salvation is the gift of God, independent of our own efforts [see EPHESIANS 2:8-9], this passage must refer to something else, something that is related to our own efforts. That something else is detailed by Paul in another place.
In the First Corinthian Letter, we read, “No one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:11-15].
Christians now are providing gold, silver, or precious stones to be used in preparing for eternity. If these costly materials are not being provided, they are providing wood, hay, or straw. What is important is that the burning gaze of the Risen Christ will reveal what we have provided throughout our days of service to His cause. We are building with gold as we glorify God. We are building with silver as we speak of the redemption that Christ the Son of God has provided. And we are building with precious stones as people come to faith through our prayers and through our testimony. These aspects will last throughout eternity; hence, they are of eternal worth.
Then, in his Second Letter to those same Corinthians, Paul wrote, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:10]. What I have done, the motives of my service and the work I have performed, will be revealed before the Judgement Seat of Christ.
Each of us is charged to obey the call we have received. Not even the apostle to the Gentiles had obtained an exemption from obedience, as he made clear in that first Corinthian missive when he wrote, “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” [1 CORINTHIANS 9:27]. Doctrinal error becomes the basis for divine discipline, which is tantamount to eternal loss.
Often professed Christians come to our door or enter our homes via the internet, television, radio, or through the books we read. We who follow the Christ are required to be discerning, and if those who come to us do not agree with the true doctrine of Christ, not only are we not to permit them entrance, but we must not even say “good bye,” which means “God be with you.” Why should John have been so adamant in this warning not even to be friendly toward these errant people? The Apostle did not want any of God’s children to give a false teacher the impression that the heresy being peddled was acceptable, just as we should be concerned lest we give the impression we approve of error. John did not want believers to be infected through association or possible friendship with heretics, nor should we permit ourselves to be thus infected. Further, John did not want to lend false teachers ammunition they might use at their next stop.
If I entertain a cultist, for example, he is liable to state to a neighbour that he should be granted entrance because Dr. Stark let him in and they enjoyed a marvelous talk. In that instance, my disobedience could well lead to another’s destruction. John is not discouraging “Friendship evangelism,” he is urging us to use discernment. We are neither to receive nor encourage false teachers who represent antichristian groups. You may be sure apostates will welcome every opportunity to secure the endorsement of true Christians, and you may be certain that such people will use you if they are given opportunity to do so. Even if your name is not employed, they will count you among those numbered as supporters and listeners, thus deceiving the unwary.
A tradition recorded of the Apostle John illustrates the proper and godly position concerning our view of false doctrine advocated in this message. It is said that while living in Ephesus, the aged apostle one day visited the public baths, and there he saw Cerinthus, a noted gnostic leader. “Acknowledge me,” demanded Cerinthus. “I acknowledge the firstborn of Satan,” was the feisty Apostle's rejoinder. When the heretic repeated his demand, blind we would suppose to the sarcasm of the man of God, John fled the buildings lest they should fall under divine judgment. Extreme? Only to those unwilling to obey God's instructions.
I would not wish anyone who listens to me this day to conclude that I am urging you to engage in endless, fruitless searches for error. Rather, the message is meant to encourage each listener who is a follower of the Christ to inculcate those truths which are vital to the very existence of the Faith. It is a plea to exercise discernment, that peculiar submission to the Holy Spirit to examine teachings which come into our lives that we might sift the chaff from the kernel, that we might thus fulfill the apostolic instruction to “Test everything” and “Hold fast what is good” [1 THESSALONIANS 5:21]. The message is to beware falling into the trap of being seduced by that which on the surface appears exciting and attractive while concealing underneath a morass of moral and ethical putrefaction. May God give His people wisdom and courage. Let the people of God encourage one another to seek Christ’s glory and build one another. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Edward E. Plowman, “Who Really Wrote The Book of Mormon?” Christianity Today, Volume XXI, Number 19, July 8, 1977
[3] Cf. Rodney Clapp, “Was Ellen White Merely an Epileptic?” Christianity Today, Volume XXVI, Number 5, March 5, 1082
